Cotton Buds for the Ears- Takeoff

[Joles]

Hi !

I notice there is a small debate about the efficacy or otherwise of using cotton buds in the ears to withstand the sudden pressure in the ears during take off and landing

I have also been told that swallowing at regular intervals instead of the buds is a healthier alternative

Please Enlighten

Cheers

Anurag

[witchdoctor]

If you attempt to try and block your ears when flying, you are most likely to end up with a perforated eardrum for your troubles. Swallowing, yawning, or holding your nose and blowing through it gently are the best methods to equalise the pressure difference you are experiencing. If you are unable to clear your ears, you should not fly. Similarly, if you are having sinus problems. Trapped air in various body cavities will expand as you climb, and even very small amounts of expansion can be extraordinarily painful. Anybody who has suggested to you that you should actually try and make this happen artificially is a total fool.

It also does not happen suddenly on take off or landing, it probably just seems that way. Air pressure changes fairly gradually as you climb and descend, with the rate of change carefully controlled by the aircraft pressurisation system to avoid any large or sudden changes. Your body however does not always compensate for these pressure changes as smoothly as the aircraft, and so you get regular small and sudden equalisations of pressure, which are the 'pops' you experience in your ears. Air will try to exit your ears on the way up, and enter on the way down, and I suspect it is the physical make up of your inner ear that makes the latter more noticeable.

[capt.cynical]

This particular practice seems to have it's origins with pax from India. Why I have no idea.
Any one have any input ?

[Alpha Leader]

Capt. Cynical:

I can assure you it has little to do with any medical condition, rather than the propensity here to cause maximum inconvenience to anyone viewed as being in a service position:

Once on board, press call button and ask for water (never mind we've just come from the terminal with water available everwhere), then press call button for another newspaper than the one the airline has already placed in the seat pocket in front, and finally.... oh yes, let's press the call button again and ask for cotton wool, just for the hell of it.

[WHBM]

Long, long ago (so long ago my GRANDfather was able to tell me about it !) cotton buds were issued to pax prior to take off. This was unpressurised a/c. Likewise sweets to suck.

I guess they both went in economy drives. Gosh, hasn't the industry performed better since they stopped buying cotton buds from suppliers A very few still do the sweets.

[BOFH]

Following on from witchdoctor's good advice, be wary of any earplugs you use.

The wax earplugs you find (the only ones I could, where I was living) can effect an almost-perfect seal - great if you swim in a public pool, but nasty in aircraft.

BOFH

[Bob Upndown]

Bottom line (as related by my GP) - never insert anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.

That said, the soft foam type earplugs are OK (for noise reduction purposes when sleeping) so long as you don't try to push them in so far they impact the eardrum.

Alpha Leader, I know exactly what you mean. I witnessed it this week on a Jet flt DEL-BOM. Pax two rows ahead was on the bell every 4 minutes; testament to the Jet crew professionalism that they smiled sweetly and complied with the muppet's demands every time.

[Joles]

Cotton Wool

Dear Al[ha,
Ha !
Man you are so absolutely right. Once on a BA flight a couple of particularly nasty Indians were indulging in their favorite pastime, and the poor a/h was completely off her rocker, being a full flight.
A short while later a white woman got up and rebuked the two in chaste Hindi ! Not a murmur from them all the way to London !

( This lady happened to be married to a very senior Army officer and was on her way to visit her mother in England )

Keep the Blue Sky Above

Cheers

Anurag

[Onan the Clumsy]

Long, long ago (so long ago my GRANDfather was able to tell me about it !) cotton buds were issued to pax prior to take off. This was unpressurised a/c.

Probably a really, really noisy environment back then too.

Likewise sweets to suck.

Now the whole flight sucks

[Piltdown Man]

Don't block your ears when flying, ever!. Use something like "Otrivine" to un-block your tubes. But even better than that, ask a Pharmacist for advice..

[flapsforty]

Joles, someone with a medical background can explain it better, but for now try this.

When you go up in the air, the air gets thinner and the pressure gets lower. Modern aircraft are pressure cabins, which means that they pressurise the cabin air to make flying more comfortable for us humans, and to keep the oxygen content in the air high enough for us.
Thing is, the pressure does not stay quite as high as it does on the ground. It becomes something like what you get high in the mountains.
So during take off, the pressure becomes lower than it was before you took off.

Your eardrum is between the air in the aircraft and the air inside your body. So those 2 pressures need to be the same, otherwise it gets uncomfortable or worse.
The eardrum is in between the external auditorial channel and the eustachian tube, as you can see in the picture.
Now the air in the channel lower right away, its a 'direct outside line'. The air in the tube (number 9 in the pic) takes a bit longer. The tube connects to the back of the throat, and via the mouth and nose to the outside air. If you swallow or yawn you ease the equalisation of the pressure.
If you have cold, the tube gets stuffed and it becomes harder or impossible to equalise. Which is when you can either 'steam' before a flight or use nosedrops to unblock your tubes 20 mins beofre take-off or descent..

other pic

Hope this helps, and if it doesn't, ask someone who is medically qualified for a better explanation.